ink

Thanks to Scribe Essentials for bringing J. Herbin inks to the Philippines! I got these from the wide assortment at their stand in Power Books at Greenbelt, Makati.

As I’ve already written before, J. Herbin inks are among fountain pen users’ most coveted ink brands, not only for the smoothness of their ink formula, but for the beauty of their bottles and packaging.

The brand goes back to 1670, and is still popular among stationery enthusiasts today.

These color swatches are as close to true-color as I can get them to show on a computer screen.

The radiant rainbow hues will inspire anyone to reach for a pen and write a love letter, a poem, or a story, or reach for a brush and paint the images  in their mind’s eye to share them with the world.

Je vous le désir.

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Last holidays were fantastic for me for several reasons, one of them being the arrival of a pleasant surprise from gogirl cafe reader Gil Q. He sent a lovely bottle of Mont Blanc ink in Bordeaux, and a Ciak Ecological Journal with elastic strap.

The Mont Blanc ink bottle is itself a product of marvelous design. Shaped like a little shoe, raised ridges along one end form a no-slip grip when twisting open the plastic cap with an inlaid signature white star. The color of the ink is like the rich wine it is named for.

Mont Blanc Bordeaux ink shown here with circa 1920 Moore Manifold flex fountain pen.

The Ciak Ecological Journal is made of pre-consumer waste material inside, while the cover is made of waste leather. Handmade in Italy, it is also superbly designed – the crosswise elastic strap is less likely to slip, unlike vertically-oriented straps. In addition, a notch in the cover prevents the elastic from slipping.

The  Ciak also has a bookmark. Its binding allows it to be laid flat open.

Thank you, Gil Q, for the beautiful gifts! I promise you they’ll be put to good use.

In the gallery below are more pictures – fountain pen, ink, and journal enthusiasts, enjoy.

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Refilling a fountain pen in some haste the other day, I got a smudge of ink on the back of my hand which I didn’t notice until later. By then the ink had crept into the faint lines on my skin. Ordinarily invisible, the lines were thrown in sharp focus, the ink creating a tracery like a spiderweb or rivers on a map.

The bracelet is of amethyst, lapis lazuli, and sodalite beads; in the background is a Christmas quilt I made some years ago.

Life experiences are like that – they shape and define us, and influence our decisions and actions, because they become embedded in our psyche. For instance, in the face of too much pain and rejection over the years, the initial reaction for some may be sulky withdrawal or acting out. Others prefer to say goodbye, let go, and look forward to what comes next. Because there is usually more than one way to approach a problem, the question to ask is, what tack is more productive? More constructive? More likely to lead to situations of happiness and contentment?

The ink on my skin looked like a stain. What kind of experiences have made that sort of mark on us? Do these mind stains have negative or positive effects on our behavior and attitudes?

It will soon be 2011, a new year and the beginning of a new decade – an auspicious time to make a fresh start. I considered my life so far and the options I have for future directions, and realized that I am trapped by constructs of my own making: expectations, desires, and illusions which had crept like ink into the crevices of my soul.

I was the one holding myself back.

Once I understood this, I resolved to let loose of the mental moorings that tie me down. To be untethered, I must set myself free to breathe and create and live.

Some of the things on my “to do” list for 2011:

1. I will no longer “hold back what is owed to the work.” (See poem by Marge Piercy below.) My life informs my art. My experiences are the raw material from which I create. My stories are born from the narratives of my life. My life is filled with people, places, and happenings. And some of it or all of it will find its way into the stories and essays that I write and the photographs I take. I will give to the work what is owed to the work. Having made this decision, I can now finish for publication my uncompleted pieces and start new ones that I’ve been longing to write.

2. Write a blog post everyday.

3. Do more walking. Walking is underrated and running is getting the hype, but people who have been mostly sedentary will have an easier time sticking to an exercise routine if they choose a low-impact activity. Now where are my training shoes…? Gaah, I don’t think I even have socks anymore.

4. Let go of the people and activities in my life that bring stress, and embrace those bringing calm and joy. This includes actually burning the scented Yankee Candles and incense sticks I’ve collected through the years.

5. Ink my demonstrator fountain pens – the Pilots and the Sailors. With permanently-staining Noodler’s Baystate Blue ink. Wait, maybe I’m being too hasty with this…!

6. Listen to more music. It will me take years to comprehend the oeuvres of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, not to mention The Beatles.

7. Sort my books and give away those I don’t wish to keep. What I usually do is pack books in balikbayan boxes and leave them anonymously on the doorstep of the Sta. Ana, Manila public library.

Like ink on skin, kept resolutions will be embedded within us, further filling out our drawing of ourselves, as we are the artists of our lives and it is up to us to create the rendition as we wish.

Happy New Year and New Decade, everyone!

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“La Perle des Encres” – “The Jewel of Inks”. Thus now are known the inks first created in 1700 by sailor-entrepreneur M. Herbin in his atelier in the Rue des Fosses Saint Germain in Paris. The company, known as J. Herbin, has been in existence since 1670; they began as a purveyor of fine sealing waxes.

Using inks in fountain pens and sealing wax in correspondence is an enjoyable visit to a splendid age, when the educated people of that time wrote long letters on thick paper in an elegant hand, carefully sealing them afterward with colored wax, an impression from a seal or a ring, and perhaps a kiss.

It is a marvel that we today can enjoy these same things. J. Herbin still makes fountain pen inks from natural dyes; their neutral pH is fountain-pen friendly. Here’s my latest haul of J. Herbin, from Scribe Writing Essentials in Eastwood Mall.

The packages are very chic, a designer’s dream.

The ink bottles are also beautiful, as are the labels. And the names of the inks, in French, will make you fall in love. Je t’aime.

The bottles are of glass and come with plastic caps.

There is something so very satisfying about a well-made and well-designed product.

The bottles are a special shape – the caps are set slightly back to give space for a groove that functions as a pen rest.

The bottles are works of art in themselves.

Even the bottom of the ink bottles are lovely.

These simple writing samples show how spectacular these water-based, lightfast inks are. Can you imagine using one of these colors in a pen to write a letter to someone special? Or using several colors to create a watercolor artwork?

This new year, make it a resolution to tap in your own creativity. What is it you enjoy doing – writing, drawing, singing? Express yourself through that channel, do whatever it is that makes you happy, and renew your spirit in words, color, or sound.

Photos taken with a Nikon Coolpix L21 at PICC Complex, Pasay City.

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For Christmas I treated myself to a bottle. Not of wine, nor perfume, but of a headier and far more potent potion – fountain pen ink.

J. Herbin of France was founded in 1670 by a sailor, Monsieur Herbin, who brought back from his travels to India formulas for sealing wax that made him his fortune. Some years later the company also began manufacturing ink, and thus they are “the oldest name in ink production in the world.” They made ink for the Sun King, Louis XIV, and a black ink for the sole use of author Victor Hugo.

To commemorate the company’s 340th anniversary this year, they released a limited edition ink – the “1670″.

J. Herbin calls the color rouge hematite, described as a “dark red color and earthy tone”. The hue recalls the color of  the company’s logo, while the use of red wax to seal the cap is a reminder that the company also makes wax to seal the grand cru wines of Europe.

The bottle is a different shape from their usual, being a heavy glass cube. The cap is of aluminum, sealed with red wax; the neck is strung with gold cord sealed to the bottle with gold glue-gun wax.

The ink goes on blood red but dries in gradations and with flecks of gold here and there. The color is warm and saturated. It has depth and complex layers of shades that make it more suitable for use in pens with flex or calligraphy nibs.

Writing sample made with a Waterman 52-1/2v, circa 1915, with a superflex gold nib.

Read these excellent reviews of “1670″ at Inkophile, Rants of the Archer, Biffybeans, and Lady Dandelion.

“1670″ is available online and, in the Philippines, at Scribe Writing Essentials store, Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City.

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Sometime last year I went with some penfriends to old Manila to look for NOS (new old stock) fountain pens and ink. It’s a part of the city that is the oldest, and consequently the one being consumed by inner-city decay.

Yet along its streets life thrives. Commerce is booming. There are interesting things to see – and buy. Come take a look at what we found. (Click on each picture, then click again to see full size.)

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Once upon a time, in a country far far away from where it was made, a blue Pelikan M205 Traditional Series demonstrator came to roost on a Yeah! notebook.

The blue Peli’s fine steel nib has a bit of flex that makes it a joy to write with, yielding good line variation because of its springiness.

It was joined later by a limited edition Pelikan M205 in Gelb (yellow) from Germany.

Its nib is even bouncier than its blue fellow’s.

The clips of both pens are pelican beaks with eyes, the better to see what they are writing.

The ink window mesmerizes; one can gaze at that ink bubble and derive amusement from watching the ink flow here and there as you tilt the barrel.

An ink window is handy for seeing how much ink you have left. You’ll never run dry in the middle of a sentence anymore.

The Yeah! notebook is inexpensive but well-made.

Its paper is smooth and takes fountain pen ink well with little show-through and no feathering.

Interesting pens, notebooks, and inks for doodling make me happy. What are the little things that bring you happiness?

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Pen friends show each other love with – pens. Leigh and TAO cheered me up with these pink beauties, both unavailable in Manila.

Rotring is a brand familiar to many Filipinos. Countless engineering students buy their drafting pens and related products. This German brand also makes reliable school and workhorse fountain pens commonly used in Europe.

The Rotring Altro (from TAO) was released in the 1980s and came in pink, yellow, burgundy, and other colors. Its ribbed barrel is non-slip and sturdy hard plastic, able to withstand flinging into a rucksack after a day at school. This one has a  medium nib, but writes like a Parker fine, and glides smoothly over paper. The nib is steel, and rigid as a concrete nail.

It can take a small cartridge and have room for a spare. A long Waterman cartridge would fit, for those who want more ink than a short cart can store.

The cap bears “Rotring Altro” and “W. Germany” markings. The clip is metal wire, like a bent paper clip with a tube of plastic on the tip. The pen looks coral in these images because of the low light conditions, but the actual color is Barbie pink.

Herlitz is another German brand. Founded in 1904 and based in Berlin, it manufactures paper and school and office supplies, among them a line of fountain pens. The my*pen line comes in cheerful two-color combinations – fuschia and orange, light and dark blue, light and dark green, and this pink and white baby.

Another friend, Clem, calls her white Lamy Safari her “Stormtrooper” pen. This one (from Leigh), on the other hand, reminds me of Hello Kitty Darth Vader. Like most, if not all, affordable modern pens, the nib is steel without a hint of flex. The pink inset is soft rubber and makes gripping it easy. This one has an M-nib, but lays a  juicier and wetter line than the Rotring Altro, much like the M-nibs of other brands.

The rest of the barrel is ridged hard plastic. The cap has an unusual design that reminds me of, well, Hello Kitty Darth Vader’s helmet.

The Rotring Altro and Herlitz my*pen are dependable road warriors that will complement any pen fancier’s lineup for daily use.

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On alternate weekends  I sit as anchor of the cable television live coverage of horseracing events at the Philippine Racing Club’s Santa Ana Park in Naic, Cavite.

There are usually 12 races on Saturday, 13 on Sunday. They start at 2:00 pm and are held at 30 to 40-minute intervals. I’m on-cam at the opening and closing of the show. In between, only my voice (and that of my co-host) is heard to introduce the entries at the post parade, give the pre-race and post-race analyses, read announcements, race odds, results, and pay-offs, and crack jokes. There are no scripts, it’s all ad-lib, and it’s pretty free-wheeling as long as you stick to the sequence.

I’m stuck in the studio the entire day, unless there are awarding ceremonies to emcee, which isn’t often. To amuse myself between races and spiels,  I doodle and test fountain pens and ink.

I play!

Last weekend I brought along these babies to the track and put them through their paces.

From the top, a Lamy Purple AL-Star EF; a Lamy Coffee AL-Star EF; a Parker Ringtop; a Sailor Pro Colors 500 in Geranium Red, originally a medium and modified by nibmeister Chito Limson into a stub;  and a Wahl 3 Greek Key.

Along with pens, ink gets tested too. Pilot Iroshizuku has a wonderful line of ink based on colors found in nature, in the earth and plants and trees of the Japanese countryside.

The Sailor running Pilot Iroshizuku tsutsuji (azalea).

Once a fountain pen is altered from its original state, the practice among pen collectors is to mention all changes made to it. In the case of nib modifications, a word is coined that refers to it using the nibmeister’s name. In the case of this Sailor, it is “Chitofied”.

To give a few more examples: “Binderized” (Richard Binder), “Mottishawed” (John Mottishaw). To use in a sentence: “Sorry, kids – your only inheritance is a Pilot Vanishing Point with a Binderized cursive italic nib.”

Most fountain pen nibs in gold and steel are tipped with “iridium”, a term that refers to metal alloys that are long-wearing and protect the softer gold and steel tips. In less expensive pens, the tip of the nib may just be turned back on itself to create the characteristic bump on the tip.

A nibmeister creates a stub nib by patiently grinding away the “iridium”, often by using abrasive pads like Micromesh. He may leave a soft-edged tip, or grind a straight line with rounded edges – a “stub”. If he sharpens the edges a bit more, he comes up with an italic nib. Sharpening even further, he creates a “crisp” italic nib.

Stubs and italics offer more line variation than the usual kinds of nibs (extra-fine, fine, medium, broad). They are more interesting to write with.

To obtain more variation and fancier effects, nothing comes close to vintage flexible nibs. The best, to my mind, are gold flex nibs from the 1930s and earlier. Below is a gold-filled Wahl 3 Art Deco pen from the ’20s.

Wahl 3 inked with Waterman Havana Brown. To see a Wahl (and a Nakaya elastic fine and flexible fine)  in action, watch this video at Leigh Reyes’s blog.

Lamy is a fantastic brand that marries contemporary design with reliability and performance. Here’s their Lamy AL-Star, which looks the same as their popular Safari model, except that the AL-Star’s barrel and cap are made of aluminum while the Safaris are plastic.

Lamy comes out with different colors of their AL-Star and Safari every so often and discontinuing them after each production batch, making each new color a collectible. This one’s called “Coffee”, rendering it irresistible to me. It lays a striking line when paired with gentle-for-pens Waterman ink in Havana Brown.

Modern steel nibs are “nails’ – they are unyielding and sturdy, making them suitable for daily road-warrior work such as note-taking, writing drafts and long letters, and defending yourself against muggers. (That’s a long story. Tell you next time.)

See the difference between the Wahl 3 and the Lamy.

Lamys at the track: Purple AL-Star, Coffee AL-Star, Aluminum AL-Star, Pink Safari. Save for the Aluminum, these are LE (limited edition) colors.

I bring at least four Lamys with me everyday, inked with different colors. But I also bring a flex pen or two to play with, and another vintage favorite is this Parker Duofold Jade ringtop with gold-filled cap trim from 1929 or thereabouts.

Pilot Iroshizuku momiji (autumn leaves) gives gradated effects when used in a flex-nib pen.

The Parker Duofold’s nib is glorious; I can do calligraphic tricks with it, creating thick and thin lines and all kinds in between by altering the pressure on the nib.

Doodling in between races with pens old and new, using inks of rainbow hues, relaxes me after each task and clears my head, so I approach the commentating of each race with undiminished energy.

“Aaaaand they’re off…!”

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